I can't be the only person who sees the similarities, can I?
I almost feel like this single class has given us the tools we need to create the avatar world, with a few differences such as being able to branch out into more than one element.
Would you play an avatar campaign where the only classes available were kineticist and maybe fighter or rogue (whatever's mundane, basically). What about if each kineticist were limited to a single element?
How would you build "the avatar" with the kineticist using these rules? Is there an easy way to meld all kineticist options, or is there some house ruling that becomes necessary?
Would you place such a setting far into the past, of the times of avatar won, a little less into the past, of the times of Kyoshi? Would you put it more into the era of Aang, or Korra? Or even far into the future after the events of the show?
It all seems very interesting to me, and I would love to see how it plays out under pathfinder rules.
It was pretty explicit that the class was in some ways a reference to "benders." Part of the design.
See: the "Blood bender" art's arctic-wear.
The Avatar is a Kineticist that takes one element, then takes two more in a specific order (air-water-earth-fire-air-etc). You only fully manifest all 4 elements at level 20. All other benders start with 1 element and may choose another element when available, but can only use the relevant composite blast.
Lightning replaces Steam for the composite a firebender gains when they take Water, to reflect its origins as a firebending technique using water bending forms. Sand is a composite for Earthbenders who take Wind. So on and so forth. Allow fighters, ninjas, rogues, monks and unchained monks, barbarians, etc. Make it a no/low-magic setting. Maybe use the rules for the Astral Plane to simulate the Spirit World.
Sand is already a composite for earthbenders who take wind...
Of course, the real problem here is that in the show, benders never have to worry about KOing themselves from nonlethal damage from using their abilities a couple of times.
Unless you completely ignore hp you don't have to worry about koing yourself from burning, because there is a maximum to the amount of burn you can give yourself.